Spanish Navy

The Spanish Navy is the navy of the Kingdom of Spain, created in approximately 1232; it is one of the world's oldest navies. The navy was founded by the Spanish kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, and it took part in the 1232 capture of Cadiz from the Moors, the 1402 conquest of the Canary Islands, and the exploration of the New World during the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1519, the Spanish Navy succeeded in the first circumnavigation of the world with the help of Ferdinand Magellan, and the Spanish Navy became the most feared navy in the world during the 16th century. Its "Manila gallions" carried gold from Manila in the Philippines to Acapulco in Mexico, and the Spanish Navy dominated the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean for years. However, the failure of the Spanish Armada in 1588 led to the decline of the Spanish Navy as the Royal Navy of England became one of the most powerful navies in the world, and the English and Dutch navies would prey on Dutch shipping during the Dutch Revolt and several undeclared colonial conflicts. Piracy was also common in the Spanish Main, and the Spanish Navy would suffer several losses in the region. During the 18th century, it possessed the world's third-largest navy after the Royal Navy and the French Navy, and it fought in the American Revolutionary War, French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, and the Spanish-American War before it was forever crippled at the Battle of Manila Bay of 1898. After Manila Bay, the Spanish Navy ceased to be a powerful navy, and it had just 78 ships in 2012.